Tobacco use in Arizona 2021

• In 2020, 13.1% of adults smoked. Nationally, the rate was 15.5%.¹
• In 2019, 5.3% of high school students in Arizona smoked cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 6.0%.²

• In 2017, 5.3% of adults in Arizona used e-cigarettes.³
• In 2020, 2.9% of adults in Arizona used smokeless tobacco.³
• In 2019, 17.9% of high school students in Arizona used electronic vapor products on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 32.7%.²
• In 2019, 2.5% of high school students in Arizona used chewing tobacco, snuff or dip on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 3.8%.²
• In 2019, 4.9% of high school students in Arizona smoked cigars, cigarillos or little cigars on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 5.7%.²

• Arizona received $425.4 million (estimated) in revenue from tobacco settlement payments and taxes in fiscal year 2021.⁴
• Of this, the state allocated $18.5 million in state funds to tobacco prevention in fiscal year 2021, 28.7% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual spending target.⁴
• Smoking-related health care costs: $2.38 billion per year.⁴
• Smoking-related losses in productivity: $2 billion per year.⁵

Tobacco taxes

• Arizona is ranked 19th in the U.S. for its cigarette tax of $2.00 per pack (enacted December 2006), compared with the national average of $1.91. (The District of Columbia has the highest tax at $4.50 and Missouri has the lowest at 17 cents.) ^6-8
• Smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco, smoking tobacco and snuff, are taxed at 22.25 cents per ounce. All other tobacco products have varying taxes based on weight or quantity.⁶

Clean indoor air ordinances

• Smoking is prohibited in all government and private workplaces, schools, childcare facilities, retail stores, recreational/cultural facilities, restaurants, bars and casinos/gaming establishments (tribal establishments are exempt).⁷
• Use of e-cigarettes is prohibited in foster homes and in vehicles when a foster child is present.⁹

Licensing laws

• Wholesalers are required to obtain a license to sell tobacco products. Retailers are not required to obtain a license to sell tobacco products.⁶
• Retailers and wholesalers are not required to obtain a license to sell e-cigarette products.⁹

Youth access laws

• Effective December 2019, the United States adopted a law raising the federal minimum age of sale of all tobacco products to 21.  Some states have not yet raised their state minimum age of sale, however, the federal law takes precedence.
• While the federal law takes precedence, under the state law, the minimum sales age for Arizona is 18.
• Underage persons are prohibited from buying and possessing e-cigarettes ^{6, 9}
• The sale of vapor products to underage persons is prohibited. ⁹

Local tobacco laws

• The use of smokeless tobacco products is prohibited at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondacks.¹⁰

• The CDC estimates 47.2% of daily adult smokers in Arizona quit smoking for one or more days in 2019.³
• In 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that Medicaid programs cover all quit medications.⁷**
• Arizona’s state quit line invests $2.15 per smoker, compared with the national average of $2.28.⁷
• Arizona does not have a private insurance mandate provision for quitting tobacco.⁷

Updated August 2021

*National and state-level prevalence numbers reflect the most recent data available. This may differ across state fact sheets.

**The seven recommended quitting medications are NRT gum, NRT patch, NRT nasal spray, NRT inhaler, NRT lozenge, Varenicline (Chantix) and Bupropion (Zyban).

Fiore MC, et al. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service: May 2008.

1. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2020.

2. CDC, Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System, 2019.

3. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System, 2021.

4. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Broken Promises to Our Children: a State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 22 Years Later FY2021, 2020.

5. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Toll of Tobacco in the United States.

6. American Lung Association, State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI).

7. American Lung Association, State of Tobacco Control, 2021.

8. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. State Cigarette Excise Tax Rates & Rankings. https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/factsheets/0097.pdf. Accessed.

9. Public Health Law Center. U.S. E-Cigarette Regulation: 50-State Review. http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/resources/us-e-cigarette-regulations-50-state-review. Accessed.

10. Knock Tobacco Out of the Park. https://tobaccofreebaseball.org/. Accessed.